Mick Mulvaney is now one of the most powerful bureaucrats

The White House budget director is, for now, also the acting director of a powerful financial regulator, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. At the CFPB, he can single-handedly cut the agency’s budget and decide whether to proceed with or drop investigations into big financial firms. He also gains a seat on a key regulatory panel that oversees the world’s largest financial institutions, called the Financial Stability Oversight Council.

Mulvaney’s ability to wear both hats — director of the Office of Management and Budget and acting head of the CFPB — is one of the thorniest legal issues remaining in the battle for control of the consumer watchdog.